Kitchens are the most used room in a house. With all the cooking that happens there, it needs regular cleaning for the most obvious reasons. Being the busiest room in the house, the kitchen invites a lot of dirt, germs, and insects. To tackle this, you need a thorough kitchen cleaning checklist.Keeping the place where the food we eat comes from clean becomes an essential job. But cleaning a kitchen can be a very hectic job if not done right and systematically. Having a kitchen cleaning checklist is a necessity to make the cleaning process a breeze. That being said, cleaning your kitchen shouldn’t be a one-time thing. It requires continuous attention and meticulous planning. That’s where having daily, weekly, monthly, and even seasonal kitchen cleaning comes into play. But if you are wondering where to start, we have got a checklist for that too, thus helping you kick start your cleaning process today.

Remove Objects That Don’t Belong

Remove all the objects that don’t belong in the kitchen. You can use a box or even your laundry basket to store those things for the time being. After your cleaning stint in the kitchen is finished, you can see which object goes where to set them up at their rightful place.

Soak and Scrub Everything

If certain dishes don’t go into a dishwasher and need to be hand-washed, soak them in the soapy water for some time. While you are at it, drop in your drip pans and burner grates too.After soaking it for some 10 minutes or so, scrub all the dishes, pans, and grates. Hand dry the drip pans and burner grates and place the dishes on the towel to dry well.

Clean the Counters

Take a clean cloth and some cleaning liquid. Using the cloth dipped in the cleaning liquid, start cleaning the counters, stovetop, tabletop, chairs, and cabinet knobs.If there are any cushions placed on the chairs, remove them and keep them aside. Take out the cushion covers from the cushions and change them with washed ones while the old ones go into the laundry.Using harsh chemicals can damage your countertop, so always try to use cleaning supplies that are 100% natural.Places like countertops, stovetops where your food touches often are very important places to clean every day. Clean them thoroughly so that you don’t miss any food pieces on any of them.

Clean the Surfaces of Your Appliances

You need to clean the surfaces of your appliances like dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, oven, etc. Take a damp cloth and soapy water to clean the external surfaces of these appliances. Never use anything acidic as they can damage the surfaces.

Clean the Inside of the Oven

The oven is a dangerous place to clean, so wearing safety goggles and gloves is a priority. Use any commercial cleaner and follow all the instructions mentioned on the box to prevent any unwarranted damages to the Oven or, in the worst-case scenario, any electrical mishappening.

Clean the Inside of the Microwave

To make your microwave look and smell great again, just take some water in a small bowl, squeeze some fresh lemon, put it on the turning wheel, and set the timer for two minutes. After the two minutes is over, just remove the water bowl carefully as it can be hot. Clean the residue, if any, with a damp cloth. That’s it. Your clean and great smelling microwave is ready to use.

Clean Out Your Refrigerator

Next on the kitchen cleaning checklist is your refrigerator. It is a place that needs the most cleaning as a lot of food goes into it. Go through the food that is already in your refrigerator, and throw away any spoiled food. Wipe all the drawers and shelves clean with any homemade cleaning supply or a store-bought one.Remove all the removable components and wipe them clean with soapy water, dry them up before placing them back again in their respective places.Using an old toothbrush to remove stubborn particles is a good practice. That way, you can remove all the particles, even stubborn ones, thus getting a sparkling clean refrigerator.

Sweep and Mop the Floor

We are inching closer to having a clean kitchen. Finally, after you clean all the appliances, stovetop, countertop, and all, it’s time to sweep your flooring. After thorough sweeping, take a clean cloth, some water, and a floor cleaner to mop the floor. Take a dry cloth and wipe it down to not leave any watermarks on your floor.

Clear the Trash

Finally, take out the trash and come back to the clean kitchen of your dreams. After you are done with the whole cleaning, the real work is to maintain it. It should become your second nature. Here are the daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly checklists to keep you on track.

Kitchen Cleaning Checklist: Daily

• Empty the dishwasher on a daily basis.
• Wash dirty dishes as they start to accumulate. You can wash dishes after immediately finishing the meal each time, or you can choose to clean all the dishes at the end of the day. But never leave the dirty dishes in your sink to rot.
• Keep your counters, floor, and appliances clean by wiping them as and when any spill happens.
• Sweep the floor daily either in the morning or before going to bed
• After cleaning all the dishes, clean the sink too
• Put in all the dirty cleaning clothes to the laundry and prepare a new and clean one for the next day.

Kitchen Cleaning Checklist: Weekly

• Make sure to throw away all the leftover items from the refrigerator.
• Clean the appliance surfaces.
• Clean inside of the microwave and remove all the residuals that have been accumulated over that particular week.
• Mop the floor with a damp cloth and floor cleaning detergent.

Kitchen Cleaning Checklist: Monthly

• Check if any of your inventory is expired to replace them.
• Clean the refrigerator by wiping down shelves and drawer
• Clean the drip pan and burner grates

Kitchen Cleaning Checklist: Quarterly/Seasonally

• Remove your refrigerator from its original place and clean under the refrigerator.
• Clean the oven by making sure you have all safety protocols in place
• Check for any blunt knives or any appliances which need service.